Home > Bar owners skeptical about latest council proposal aimed at keeping bars open until 4:00

Bar owners skeptical about latest council proposal aimed at keeping bars open until 4:00

By adeiro

Created 10/05/2012 - 5:47pm

POSTED: Friday, October 5, 2012 - 5:47pm

UPDATED: Friday, October 5, 2012 - 5:49pm

BATON ROUGE, LA (NBC33) — The latest proposed change to the liquor laws of East Baton Rouge Parish has many discussing what they might do if local bars kept their doors open until 4:00AM.

"I definitely know some people who would like to see bars stay open later. And I can see them definitely taking advantage of that and staying from 7 o'clock opening until 4 o'clock closing time," Tyler Jacobs, an LSU student explained.

"Definitely, I would definitely stay out till 4am. The lights come on and it feels like its still 11:00," Stephanie Lazar, another LSU student, added.

But not everyone is sure that keeping bars open until 4 am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights is the greatest idea. Those working at local bars feel the new ordinance would cause more problems than it's worth.

"To be honest after 2am there's not a whole lot of good that happens. It’s nice to have the flexibility to stay open if there's an event or something going on that lets out late at the river center or a football game or something. But overall no I don't think it's a great idea," Veach Tucker, with Last in Concepts, said. Last in Concepts owns Happy’s and Walk-On’s locally.

The thinking behind the proposed ordinance, keep the bars open later, and it will give owners the opportunity to take in more money. But for those working behind the bar, those extra two hours of operation don't seem worth the profit margin.

"What’s going on after 2am, people if they're still out, they've probably had enough to drink. They’re not spending that much more money, and the amount of problems escalate," Tucker said.

The proposal will be introduced to the Metro-City Council on Wednesday October 10th.